Month: June 2007

So after rearranging some cars and heading back to Carrie’s, I went upstairs to hang out with some folks I haven’t seen in awhile – namely the lovely Simpson couple, Holly, Alex and Alex’s friend Tom.

Good times were had as we had a few drinks before heading out downtown for the main event. Holly had made some chicken cordon bleu which was awesome (I only took a bite but the taste was in my mouth all night long!) and it looked like all was good on Holly’s birthday. Her Mom (hi Mrs. Pelky!) made an excellent picture slideshow for Holly’s 30th and it was pretty swell – mainly because I ended up in one of the slides.

An embarrassing moment happened in the evening when Alex got a phone call whom I asked if it was Matt on the phone. As soon as I got an affirmative from someone in the room, I grabbed the phone as whoever was on the other line was asking where we were and why we weren’t there. This is how my conversation went:

“Listen buddy. If you can’t enjoy some time with your lady friend at the pub, then there is something wrong with this picture. Enjoy your time with her and don’t think about us. We’ll be there when we get there and if you’re having an awful time with her, then maybe you should reconsider her!”

So the guy on the other end is saying “Uh…ok.” Then I start talking about Karilee (who is the new ladyfriend of Matt) and the guy says “Who?!”.

At this point I stop talking, ask Alex who I’m talking to, to which he replies “Dan.”

Doh!

As everyone is laughing I have to apologize to him saying that I thought it was Matt on the phone all the time. He had a good laugh about it and we all did, but I must admit it was an embarrassing move on my part!

Let’s talk now about the amazing friends we have – Ferda and James who managed to give us a great ride downtown while previewing some great tracks by the band Staylefish. They were decent. After scouring the area for a parking spot, we were let out so we can get in line and lo and behold, the unfathomable had occurred.

There was cover charge at the Heart and Crown.

Never in my life had this occurred! As I grumbled while laying out my five dollar bill, I recollected how many times I had been there without paying cover so I shouldn’t complain too much. However, if they start making this a habit, there may be changes in my pub of choice.

Shaydid was an amazing band as always and it was their last weekend with their keyboardist (which is a shame). Every opening chord he plays sounds like Jump by Van Halen. Even when we started singing O Canada at midnight I thought we were singing Jump!

The singer was quite drunk after the first set but she could still perform well (a mark of a seasoned performer). I got her to say Happy Birthday to Mike as there was five minutes left in the night of his birthday. He had a smile a mile long! She then sang the song ‘Crazy Bitch’ and mentioned afterwards that the song wasn’t ALL about him. 😉

The night descended into the usual Heart and Crown madness and all was good in the world other than the fact that we were right next to the speaker and I think I lost 90% of my hearing. Must remember to bring earplugs.

We did enjoy meeting up with some awesome guys who were dressed in some fab Canadian gear (in picture above). Next day we found a picture of Adrianna kissing the guy with the nice moustache and harmonica! *gasp*

We hopped into a cab after the night was done and watched some old videos when we got home. It was a good night and a great birthday party for Holly and Mike.

iplaying: Broken – Lifehouse (Who We Are)

After Mike was able to move a little the next day, we headed out to Carrie’s place to have a game of bocce ball, frisbee and soccer in the field across from her place. It was all fun and games and gave us some much needed rest time before heading back out downtown for Mike and Holly’s birthday party at the Heart and Crown.

Man I love Canada Day. You can smell the energy in the air at this point with flags on people’s houses and the mass crowds entering the area. Closer to home, it’s nice to have friends come up and visit. Philipp brought his friend Chris (who is an excellent time) to Ottawa for the festivities as he has never been here for them. A true treat for a Brit.

iplaying: Tarantula – The Smashing Pumpkins (Zeitgeist)

Here’s to our little birthday princess!

Mike and I went out to Maxwell’s for Amanda’s birthday, along with a slew of people coming up from Toronto – Miguel, Katie, Adrianna and Val.

I haven’t been in Maxwell’s for quite a few years after getting kicked out of the bar for breaking up a fight! That’s right, I try and help out and get screwed over.

The music was great, the crowd was great and I must say that Mike was having a great pre-birthday celebration. I went to the DJ booth to request a little birthday wish for Mike and the DJ says “Yeah yeah, we got that one. AC/DC right?” I have no idea who already requested something for Mike, but kudos!

Mike was in fine form that night (as well as Amanda). Let’s just say that the next morning when his mother called to wish him a happy birthday I asked him (as he was lying on the bathroom floor) if he would like to speak to his Mom. “Uh…not right now.” was his response. Classic.

Special thanks to Vero who was gracious enough to come pick us up after a night out. We went into the car loaded with some good Elgin Street Diner poutine.

Katie, I would like to point out that I found something that looks surprisingly like schwarma sauce all over the inside of the rear passenger door of my car. I have two words – you suck.

The only downfall of Mike’s pre-birthday bash was the fact that when he hopped in the car, I had forgotten his gift on the front seat which was unwrapped. So I asked him to pass it to me and then I passed it back to him saying “Happy Birthday.” I am such a goof.

iplaying: Bleeding The Orchid – The Smashing Pumpkins (Zeitgeist)

We all know my favourite event of the year is Canada Day. I shall be enjoying like every other year – with friends, and with beer while celebrating this great nation we live in.

I wish everyone some good times during the weekend.

The Scene: In Class

Girl in front of me: Did he take attendance last class?
Me: No, you’re fine.
Girl: What did he talk about?
Me: (rhyming off a few topics). Hey, you know, I have my notes typed up, I can just send them to you if you would like.
Girl: Oh great. Can you do that for me every class?

To this day, I don’t know if she was joking or not. Very shrewd.

iplaying: Grow Up and Blow Away – Metric (Grow Up and Blow Away)

This is bigger than Spinal Tap reuniting!!!

Click here for the story.

I am going to follow their entire tour.

Gak…I need the long weekend to arrive NOW! Having the long weekend before Canada Day weekend just primes you up for some good times.

Last night Vero and I edited the first minute of my mid-term video which came out to be a true masterpiece. My only gripe is the sound within it as there is the constant hum of traffic in the background. Not a big deal though. We are not filming Star Wars here. Editing is a tedious (but super fun!) process. To put it into perspective, it took us 2 hours to end up with one minute of film. This is an amateur event, so if you look at a full scale film production…let’s say it would take 2 hours to edit 30 seconds. Within a two hour film, it would take 480 hours to edit it (which is equivalent to 12 40 hour work weeks. Let’s not forget that I’m probably way off in my estimates and it’s more like 2 hours to edit 10 seconds! This is why there are vast teams of people on hand to help with the production/editing/whatever of a professional film.

So now I’m a little intimidated by the amount of editing this will take so I’m looking forward to get the filming over with so I can move onto the editing.

We had fun filming it on Monday night with Mike. We found a spot in Strathcona Park and set up shop there before the sun set. I must admit that I was worried at the overall product as I had never done much filming before (other than my Grade 11 Audio Visual class (which I rocked)), but with Vero there, it was more reassuring as she is a pro. Mike is a great guy behind the camera also and offers some good ideas while I just sit there and say “Uh…what to do next?”. I shall have a more level head when it comes to filming the rest of the film.

Weekend is shaping up to be a good one. Is there EVER a bad Canada Day weekend? Katie and Miguel will be visiting which will be a good time as always! There are other folks coming up who are staying with Carrie so it will be a full crew when the town gets painted red. Friday night we’ll head out for Amanda’s birthday, then on Saturday Vero and her sister are going BUNGEE JUMPING! Holy mackerel, I would never be doing that! They are insane. After that, we will head out to the Heart and Crown for Mike and Holly’s birthday celebrations.

Canada Day is an enigma right now as Vero will be leaving that night. I figure I will be helping her pack up her things and then drive her to the airport for her flight around 10 at night. It’s crazy to think that she is actually leaving and it is awesome at the same time as she gets to do what I dream about – traveling Europe for a month. Too bad she missed the Smashing Pumpkins festival circuit by a month!

The weekend was pretty low key due to a mid-term project I have to work on.

After leaving Vero’s, I figured I had some time to kill and I should take a look at cleaning my office. If anyone has been to my office in the past 6 months (I’m talking about my office in my house), you will notice that it had become a landfill. That’s right, I think there were living organisms hidden amongst the debris.

Let me tell you, after starting to clean up, I really hit this moment of depression where I realized some of the stuff had accumulated since Christmas. What had I become? Was I some lazy human being who was content in just letting things pile up in the corner? This also puts into perspective that it’s been six months since someone stayed over in the office which is clearly the cause of my problems! We need more people visiting!

After getting past the bout of depression (no really! I was really depressed!), the room was looking pretty snazzy and now it just has a little section of the desk with some CDs to put away. I need a new CD case but IKEA discontinued my matching colour Billy case. Argh! As if!

Vero then came over and we had some fish which destroyed the place with its fish smell. I came downstairs this morning and I swear I can still smell it. We then mapped out my mid-term video project along with Eric. I think we have a solid idea down and all I have to do is add some theory to it and we are set. I had the choice of writing a 1500 word essay, or creating a five minute video. Something tells me that it may be a little easier doing the essay, but where’s the fun in that?! Plus, it’s a New Media class. Time to embrace the new media! You may see the video in all its glory sometime before July 12 (when it is due).

Vero and I had a strange experience around 2:30AM that night. We were sound asleep and the smoke alarms went off! I have never (in my memory) had that happen to me so it was a surreal experience. Searching for a fire when you’re half asleep is insane. I ran down to the kitchen and there was nothing. I then ran to the furnace and there was nothing. Then I stopped to think “Well where is the smoke?”. I couldn’t smell anything. If anything, I could smell fish from the supper we cooked.

I then ran outside to check if the neighbours place was on fire. Nothing. I looked towards my attic. Nothing. I went inside and disconnected the smoke alarm and then reconnected. Still kept going. I disconnected it again and walked around the house for awhile to see what was going on. Meanwhile, by disconnecting the smoke alarm, some ceiling gunk fell into my eye which wasn’t making a nice experience for me. In the end, I couldn’t get the piece out (or I thought I couldn’t. It was gone (or my eye was scratched and healed) by the morning, thank the Maker.) and we couldn’t find any fire so we reconnected the smoke alarms and went to bed.

Question: I have wired smoke alarms, meaning that they are connected to the wiring of the house, no batteries. Do others have similar systems, and if so, have you ever had the alarms go off randomly?

Very odd. I couldn’t get to sleep for awhile as I kept imagining their was a fire creeping through the walls that I couldn’t find. Everything was fine by morning though.

Sunday was spent nabbing a video camera from Rob (thanks Rob! Lifesaver!) and Vero showing me how Final Cut Pro worked. She is leaving in a week so it’s going to be harder than I thought it would be as I will be the one editing this puppy. Yikes!

I ended up watching The Man With the Golden Gun which is an excellent Bond flick. Probably my favourite of the Roger Moore era. I also started watching the first season of 24. I must admit it is pretty good and I am always anxious to watch the next episode. Hello summer TV viewing! Where I catch up on long lost shows that I downloaded but never got around to watching.

Ack, I hate it when I eat some yogurt and the little bits of berries get stuck inside some crevices in my teeth. Always carry a plastic toothpick in your wallet. Nuff said.

Friday night was fantabulouso as I hit home, relaxed for a bit, then head out to the Barley Mow Pub for a bite to eat with Mike, Eric, Annie and Philip. We had to wait awhile for a table which is not a big deal since the beer was flowing. Keith’s Red was our poison and it is a fine brew. Give it a try! I enjoy the red beers these days. In fact, the amber ales just don’t have enough kick anymore.

When we sat down, we waited forever for our waitress to serve us. When she finally showed up, she apologized as there was some confusion as to whether or not someone had served us or not.

We all ordered the fish and chips other than Eric who ordered a burger. We had been waiting for a top up of liquids for quite some time and so when the server came over with our food we asked if we could order some beer. He said he would send the waitress over. I could see her across the way playing around with some machine (perhaps a cash register?) and I swear I made eye contact a few times and she checked our table to see if things were alright but she never came over! At that point she went away and I went to the bar to order a pitcher but I had no cash on me so I just asked for it to be sent to our table and he asked what our waitress looked like. I think he missed the part of the conversation about sending a pitcher over as one never came! The server (who Mike thought might be the owner/service manager) came back after realizing we still didn’t have our beer and promptly got our waitress to bring one over.

At this point the damage was done and we were not impressed. She then came over to pour us a few drinks and ended up overfilling Eric’s glass and it dripped all over the place!

In the end, we had some good food and I like the atmosphere (although, why do they have big screen televisions if all they do is set it to a satellite radio channel and there’s only the text of the artist on the screen? Let’s also note that it was so loud that we couldn’t even hear the music!) but our service was horrible. In the end I pulled out the dreaded no tip card out of my hat. I reserve this for horrible service and it only comes out rarely. Do I feel bad? No.

Mike and I then headed out to Vero and Melanie’s new place as there was a shindig occuring. The party was in full force when we arrived (and only got better once we arrived!). I chatted it up with a few of her friends before settling in and talking with Rob for awhile. The night was killer and the munchies were stupendous! When you throw a tomato, a piece of cheese and (I forget the last item) on a toothpick, you are answering the prayers of all in attendance.

The guitars came out after awhile and we noodled around with them. Jean-Francois is an excellent guitar player and I must admit I had a hard time following some jazz chords he was playing. This, in no way was a result of the number of beer I had in my system. I played a few crowd favourites like Mr. Jones and Back in the USSR and then we called it a night after a singalong to some improv song. Oops! I just remembered that I broke two wooden spoons that night by drumming too hard! This reminds me of the time that Joe broke one of my wooden spoons and I was upset. Now, for the life of me, I don’t know why I was really upset that night but I was and he was a good mate and replaced them. I shall have to do the same for Vero and Mel.

We met a new lady in Matt’s life last night who was pretty cool. Actually she got the Palmer stamp of approval as soon as she said she snuck out of her house to see Pearl Jam when she was 17. You had me at Pearl Jam. Mike and I may have to hit her up as a concert going buddy as she seems to be into that sort of thing. As I am sure Matt will be showing her this entry, please note that there are plans to hit up Montreal to see Silverchair on July 30.

When I arose from my slumber I had a slight sore noggin but other than that, the day started out great.

…When you drop into the Quickie Mart to get a bag of nacho chips and you pass him some lottery tickets you found while cleaning up your place during the weekend and they win $18 so the guy gives you your nacho chips with $14 back in change.